Religious Minority Rights and their Satisfaction in Pakistan

Author(s):  
Muhammad Akram ◽  
Asim Nasar ◽  
Abid Rehman

Abstract The study investigates the satisfaction of religious minorities in Pakistan subject to government policies and attitudes of the Muslim majority. A cross-sectional study design was used to collect data from 120 respondents living in rural areas in Pakistan. Descriptive statistics and the Pearson correlation coefficient were used to measure the relatedness of essential factors of freedom of expression, opportunity in government services, security of unprotected assembly, prejudice in relationship with Muslims and welcomeness in Muslim neighbourhoods. Yeh’s Index of Satisfaction was used to measure the satisfaction level of religious minorities with government policies and attitudes of the Muslim majority. The study findings revealed that religious minorities are least satisfied with their citizenship rights in Pakistan, which poses various questions to government policies and legislation. Further, they were also least satisfied with the attitudes of the Muslim majority with whom they must interact in their everyday life.

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aziz Kamran ◽  
Leila Azadbakht ◽  
Gholamreza Sharifirad ◽  
Behzad Mahaki ◽  
Afshan Sharghi

Introduction and Objectives. Nutritional knowledge of the patients is important in dietary adherence. This study aimed to determine the relationship between illness perceptions and nutritional knowledge with the amounts of sodium intake among rural hypertensive patients.Methods. In a cross-sectional study, 671 hypertensive patients were selected in a multistage random sampling from the rural areas of Ardabil city, Iran, in 2013. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of four sections and were analyzed using Pearson correlation and multiple linear regressions by SPSS-18.Results.The mean of sodium intake in the uncontrolled hypertensive patients was3599±258 mg/day and significantly greater than controlled group (2654±540 mg/day) (P<0.001). Knowledge and illness perceptions could predict 47.2% of the variation in sodium intake of uncontrolled group. A significant negative relationship was found between knowledge and illness perceptions of uncontrolled hypertensive patients with dietary sodium intake (r=-0.66,P<0.001andr=-0.65,P<0.001, resp.).Conclusion.Considering the fact that patients’ nutritional knowledge and illness perceptions could highly predict their sodium intake, the importance of paying more attention to improve patients’ information and perceptions about hypertension is undeniable, especially among the uncontrolled hypertensive patients.


Author(s):  
Shiren Ali Al Hamzawi

Estimates of Trichomonas vaginalis prevalence in pregnant women are variable with few studies in Iraq.T. vaginalis is a worldwide prevalent sexually transmitted infection,but fortunately,it is very treatable. Researchers believed that pregnancy is one of the effective factors for T. vaginalis infection in women.A cross-sectional study performed in Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Maternity and Children Teaching Hospital in Al-Diwaniya city on two hundred female pregnant patients between the ages of 16-45 years. These females had no intercourse for 2–3 days,not using drugs (antibiotics,antiprotozoal or steroids) for the last 15 days. Vaginal discharges of any type with or without itching,burning sensation or both were their main complaints. Vaginal swabs were taken from all participating patients for direct wet mount microscopy and culture for the detection of Trichomonas vaginalis infection. The study showed that twelve out of two hundred examined pregnant women (6%) presented with T. vaginalis infection. The infection was more in those with mothers’ age (26-35) years,housewives,low education,higher parity,and of rural residents. Other maternal variables were not significantly associated with T. vaginalis infection. The study showed a prevalence of (6%) of T. vaginalis infection in pregnant female attendees. Infection was more in those with mothers ’age (26-35) years,housewives,low educational level,higher parity,and living in rural areas.


Author(s):  
Kate Emond ◽  
Melanie Bish ◽  
Michael Savic ◽  
Dan I. Lubman ◽  
Terence McCann ◽  
...  

Mental-health-related presentations account for a considerable proportion of the paramedic’s workload in prehospital care. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the perceived confidence and preparedness of paramedics in Australian metropolitan and rural areas to manage mental-health-related presentations. Overall, 1140 paramedics were surveyed. Pearson chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used to compare categorical variables by sex and location of practice; continuous variables were compared using the non-parametric Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Perceived confidence and preparedness were each modelled in multivariable ordinal regressions. Female paramedics were younger with higher qualifications but were less experienced than their male counterparts. Compared to paramedics working in metropolitan regions, those working in rural and regional areas were generally older with fewer qualifications and were significantly less confident and less prepared to manage mental health presentations (p = 0.001). Compared to male paramedics, females were less confident (p = 0.003), although equally prepared (p = 0.1) to manage mental health presentations. These results suggest that higher qualifications from the tertiary sector may not be adequately preparing paramedics to manage mental health presentations, which signifies a disparity between education provided and workforce preparedness. Further work is required to address the education and training requirements of paramedics in regional and rural areas to increase confidence and preparedness in managing mental health presentations.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Myeong Sook Yoon ◽  
Israel Fisseha Feyissa ◽  
So-Won Suk

In the COVID-19 pandemic, marginalized groups like migrants are disproportionately affected. As panic, fear of neglect, and mistrusting institutions in these groups are presumed to be apparent, their detachment to health services still needs to be investigated. This study comparatively analyzed the level of panic and trust between South Koreans and immigrants who are living within highly affected areas of South Korea. Mann–Whitney-U-Test and Pearson correlation showed panic is more pronounced in the Korean group while having a similar panic display pattern with the immigrants. The immigrant group appears to highly trust the Korean health system, health institutions, local media, and the local native community. Beyond conventional expectations, participant’s average panic score showed a statistically significant positive correlation with items of the trust scale, indicating a level of individual reliance amid the pandemic panic. Thus, ascertaining institutional trust and matured citizenry are identified as factors for effective public health outcomes. During such a pandemic, this study also reminded the public health needs of immigrants as secondary citizens, and presumptions of immigrants’ mistrust in such settings might not always be true.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4953
Author(s):  
Alfredo Guzmán Rincón ◽  
Sandra Barragán ◽  
Favio Cala Vitery

As part of the 2030 Agenda, higher education has been conceptualised as one of the ways to overcome the social disparities experienced in rural areas in Colombia. Thus, in concordance with the benefits of this level of education, the state has been designing public policies during the last few years, in order to facilitate access to undergraduate programmes to these populations, focusing mainly on the implementation of the virtual modality. In this context, it is recognised that access itself is not enough, but that continuance and timely graduation are required to materialise the benefits obtained along with a higher education degree; hence, dropout is a subject of interest for study, especially due to the high rates existing in the rural student population. Therefore, the event of dropout becomes an obstacle to social change and transformation in rural areas. Thus, this article aimed to identify which individual, institutional, academic and socio-economic characteristics influence rural student dropout in virtual undergraduate programmes in Colombia. For this purpose, an exploratory, quantitative and cross-sectional study was proposed, with a sample of 291 students to whom a student characterisation instrument and a classroom evaluation instrument were applied. With these data, it was proceeded to establish which of them had deserted, constituting the extraction of the sample of the study, which were 168. With the information, an exploratory factor analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis and descriptive statistics were used to establish which explanatory variables are involved in the dropout of this type of student. The results showed that the academic variables analysed do not have an impact on the event, while marital status (associated with family obligations), age, social stratum, work obligations, parents’ level of education and type of work, income and type of employment relationship of the student, and, finally, the number of people who depend on the family’s income do.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Cruz S. Sebastião ◽  
Joana Morais ◽  
Miguel Brito

The increase in HIV infection and drug-resistant strains is an important public health concern, especially in resource-limited settings. However, the identification of factors related to the propagation of infectious diseases represents a crucial target offering an opportunity to reduce health care costs as well as deepening the focus on preventing infection in high-risk groups. In this study, we investigate the factors related to drug resistance among HIV-infected pregnant women in Luanda, the capital city of Angola. This was a part of a cross-sectional study conducted with 42 HIV-positive pregnant women. A blood sample was collected, and HIV-1 genotyping was carried out using an in-house method. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine the interaction between sociodemographic characteristics and drug resistance. HIV drug resistance was detected in 44.1% of the studied population. High probabilities of drug resistance were observed for HIV-infected pregnant women living in rural areas (AOR: 2.73; 95% CI: 0.50–14.9) with high educational level (AOR: 6.27; 95% CI: 0.77–51.2) and comorbidities (AOR: 5.47; 95% CI: 0.28–106) and infected with a HIV-1 non-B subtype other than subtype C (AOR: 1.60; 95% CI: 0.25–10.3). The present study reports high HIV drug resistance. Furthermore, older-age, rural areas, high educational levels, unemployed status, having comorbidities, and HIV-1 subtypes were factors related to drug resistance. These factors impact on drug susceptibility and need to be urgently addressed in order to promote health education campaigns able to prevent the spread of drug-resistant HIV strains in Angola.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002076402110018
Author(s):  
Yeliz Karaçar ◽  
Kerime Bademli

Background: The study was conducted to determine the relationship between self-stigmatization and perceived social support in caregivers of schizophrenia with patient. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. The study sample consisted of 84 participants who cared for schizophrenic patients registered in a community mental health center. In the data collection, the ‘Self-stigmatizing Scale for Families’ and ‘Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale’ were used. The data were analyzed via frequency, mean, standard deviation, Cronbach’s alpha analysis, linear regression, Pearson correlation analysis, independent samples t-test, and ANOVA test. Results: Self-stigmatization (32.48 ± 15.15) and perceived social support (44.36 ± 22.88) were found to be moderate in caregivers. Self-stigmatization was found to be higher in caregivers who do not work; have a spouse, mother, or father; have a disease; do not receive support from their family and have not received any education about schizophrenia ( p < .05). It was determined that, with increasing age, perceived social support decreases, and the perception of social support increases in caregivers who are high school graduates, working, having children, have no illness, and are educated about schizophrenia ( p < .05). It was determined that, as the level of perceived social support increases in caregivers, self-stigmatization decreases ( p < .05). Conclusion: It was determined that, as the perceived social support increases in caregivers, self-stigmatization decreases. We recommend providing informative support about schizophrenia, to increase hope and social-skill training, and to implement interventions that include caregivers in the fight against stigma.


Author(s):  
Sabuj Kanti Mistry ◽  
Armm Mehrab Ali ◽  
Md. Ashfikur Rahman ◽  
Uday Narayan Yadav ◽  
Bhawna Gupta ◽  
...  

The present study explored the changes in tobacco use patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic and their correlates among older adults in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1032 older adults aged ≥60 years in Bangladesh through telephone interviews in October 2020. Participants’ characteristics and COVID-19-related information were gathered using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Participants were asked if they noted any change in their tobacco use patterns (smoking or smokeless tobacco) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic (6 months prior to the survey). Nearly half of the participants (45.6%) were current tobacco users, of whom 15.9% reported increased tobacco use during the COVID-19 pandemic and all others had no change in their tobacco use patterns. Tobacco use was significantly increased among the participants from rural areas, who had reduced communications during COVID-19 compared to pre-pandemic (OR = 2.76, 95%CI:1.51–5.03). Participants who were aged ≥70 years (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.14–0.77), widowed (OR = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.13–1.00), had pre-existing, non-communicable, and/or chronic conditions (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.25–0.78), and felt themselves at the highest risk of COVID-19 (OR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.15–0.62), had significantly lower odds of increased tobacco use. Policy makers and practitioners need to focus on strengthening awareness and raising initiatives to avoid tobacco use during such a crisis period.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 34764
Author(s):  
Andressa Barros Ibiapina ◽  
Janaína Soares Leal ◽  
Pedro Ricardo Alves de Santana ◽  
Marcelo Ribeiro Mesquita ◽  
Tito Lívio da Cunha Lopes ◽  
...  

AIMS: This research aims to determine the epidemiology and the spatial distribution of intestinal parasitosis in the city of Teresina.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out based on the data of parasitological fecal exams performed in the Laboratory Raul Bacelar between January, 2014 and July, 2017. In addition to the prevalence of intestinal parasitosis and polyparasitism, we verified the association of these diseases with gender, zone and period of the year by means of the chi-squared test, whereas the relation with age was analyzed by the Mann-Kendall tests and multiple comparisons of age classes. The spatial distribution was performed using the QGIS georeferencing software.RESULTS: The prevalence of enteroparasitosis in Teresina is 17,8% with Ascaris lumbricoides being the most common species, due to the precarious sanitary conditions of the city. The prevalence of individuals with polyparasitism is 3,13%, in which an association between the species Entamoeba coli and Entamoeba histolytica/dispar was found. There was no relation between intestinal parasitosis with gender, but we verified that individuals in rural areas are more susceptible to these diseases. The species Ascaris lumbricoides and Entamoeba histolytica/dispar occur more frequently in the first and second semester, respectively. We observed that there is an apparent tendency to increase cases of E. histolytica/dispar and reduction of cases of Giardia sp. according to aging. Mapping intestinal parasitosis showed us that there is a prevalence between one and 20% in most of Teresina's neighborhoods, and Ascariasis embodies at least 40% of cases of enteroparasitosis in these neighborhoods.CONCLUSIONS: Investments in basic sanitation and new epidemiological investigations must be carried out to control intestinal parasitosis in Teresina, emphasizing that children and the elderly should be considered priority groups in these programs.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 396-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bolaji Fatai OYEYEMI ◽  
John Oluwafemi ADEBAYO ◽  
Abass Toba ANIFOWOSHE ◽  
Oluyinka Ajibola IYIOLA

Digit ratio (2D:4D) denotes the relative length of the second and fourth digits. There are contradicting reports on its relationship with ethnicity/race, whereas convincing studies show it is related to obesity. This cross-sectional study was undertaken to demystify ethnic difference in 2D:4D ratio and to analyze its relationship with obesity among adults in Ilorin Nigeria. The cross-sectional study included 701 individuals. Finger lengths were measured with electronic calipers and other anthropometric traits were measured with standard procedure. Student t test and one-way ANOVA were used to detect differences among groups and relationship was computed with Pearson correlation. The receiver operator characteristic curves were used to detect the diagnostic effect of 2D:4D for obesity. The obtained results showed sexual dimorphism in 2D:4D ratio and other anthropometrics at p < 0.01. Obesity was associated with significantly higher mean of 2D:4D in both genders (female 0.9814 ± 0.012:0.9700 ± 0.012; male 0.9700 ± 0.010:0.9592 ± 0.010 at p < 0.001). The area under the curve was 0.753 (95% CI 0.677-0.829, p < 0.01) and 0.798 (95% CI 0.756-0.804, p < 0.01) in female and male R2D:4D respectively for obesity, implying that 2D:4D might be a surrogate marker for obesity in future.  No significant difference was found in 2D:4D among different ethnic groups studied (p >0.05); this result proved that there was no ethnic specificity in 2D:4D ratio among study’ participants. Thus, it can be reported that the digit ratio was related to high 2D:4D, but this cannot be said for different ethnic groups. The results imply that 2D:4D might be a good surrogate indicator for obesity, but not ethnicity.  


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document